He Loves YouYeah, Yeah, Yeah
by Cassima
Summary: Miaka, Yui, Taka, Tetsuya, and Keisuke have all gone back into the book to stop something Big and Evil. How involved do you get in your friends' love lives? TasxChi Yaoi; COMPLETE.


Title: He Loves You--Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.

Author: Cassima

Disclaimer: I don't have enough time to own FY, so it's probably a good thing that I don't. Also, I pulled the title from the Beatles' song. ...more on that at the end.  
  
Archive: Please ask first.  
  
Warnings: het, yaoi, angst, stupidity, moralistic dilemmas for a certain Miko, sap.  
  
Rating: PG-13, but only because Tasuki likes to swear.

Pairings: Miaka/Tasuki, Tasuki/Chichiri, implied Miaka/Taka, implied Yui/Tetsuya.

Summary: Miaka, Yui, Taka, Tetsuya, and Keisuke have all gone back into the book to stop the Big Evil. How involved do you get in your friends' love lives?  
  
Author's Comments: I have to admit, my first reaction to Fushigi Yuugi was "For crying out loud, can't Miaka and Tamahome just shut up and let some of the other characters be interesting??" ...and now, here I am, with a story about Miaka and Tamahome... but yet, not collective sighs of relief go through the room. This story is an allergic reaction to one I read the other day where Miaka just basically decided Taka was not worth all the trouble, and let Tasuki trounce him, and then decided she was in love with Tasuki, who was also in love with her... O.o;;  
  


* * *

_"Nebari mind cleansing: doesn't get the really tough stains out."_

--Crichton, _Farscape_

* * *

"You're what?" he said, eyes wide with shock.  
  
"I can't take it anymore, Taka!" she cried, turning away. "Whenever I'm with you, bad things happen! This makes the third time you've turned evil. The third time! Once was bad enough, twice I should've taken a hint at... but three times? I'm sorry, Tamahome. I can't love you anymore."  
  
He blinked at her. "But it wasn't my fault! I just--" He grabbed her arm. "Please, Miaka. I know you don't mean it."  
  
"This time I mean it."  
  
"I love you. You love--"  
  
"I can't love you anymore."  
  
"But you do," he whispered.  
  
"Let me go. You're hurting my arm."  
  
"Miaka--"  
  
"Let me go!" She wrenched her arm free, and took a few steps back. "I don't love you anymore, Tamahome." Her eyes were gentle. "I love Tasuki."  
  
"What?" Taka said, dumbfounded.  
  
"Yeah, she loves me!" the bandit said, coming up behind her to hover protectively. "And I love her!"  
  
"But you hate women!" Taka cried incredulously. This was all a bad dream. He was going to wake up, and this was all going to be a bad dream... they didn't enter the book world again at a plea from Taiitsu-kun, they hadn't had to summon Suzaku to exorcise a demon from Chichiri--Taka threw a glance over to the recovering monk, who was lying, still unconscious, under a tree--they hadn't had to then drive it out of Tamahome--hey, had he really been evil three times, now? He frowned. That didn't seem right...  
  
Well, it was hardly the point, now. Miaka was dumping him for a guy who wore earrings and hated women in general--and who had also been evil at one point, now that he was actually thinking about it. It had to be a dream--which meant if he pinched himself... He gave the skin of his arm a good, hard twist.  
  
Well, that was painful. Was that "no pain in dreams" thing really true, or just a nasty rumor?  
  
"I don't hate Miaka," Tasuki said, "so get it inta your head--she ain't yours anymore!" He kissed her hand, and she giggled.  
  
It was utterly ridiculous, and Taka said so. "This is utterly ridiculous!"  
  
"You think I'm ridiculous?" the bandit cried, earrings swinging. "LEKKA... SHIEN!!"  
  
Taka dodged the blast of flames, but as the bandit chased after him, screaming like a banshee, a refrain of "oh, shit," began to repeat in his head.  


* * *

  
Chichiri awoke slowly. His head throbbed, his muscles ached, and he felt like he'd fallen off a cliff and hit every rock on the way down. What had happened...? He raised one heavy hand to his face; he was wearing his mask. He never wore his mask to bed, not anymore. But, this wasn't a bed, or even a bedroll. This was the ground... the very uncomfortable ground... actually, this was probably the most uncomfortable ground he'd ever had the pleasure of sleeping on. Slowly, he began to remember something about a spirit, and the loss of control. He'd warned Tasuki, and called to Taiitsu-kun for help, but... his memories were hazy after that. Very hazy.  
  
As he drifted more and more towards consciousness, the noise level grew louder, too. Very, very slowly, he opened his eye and examined the sky through his mask. Leaves, a tree trunk... Well, that would explain why he was so uncomfortable; he was sleeping on tree roots. Curiously, he lifted his head and looked around to see what the commotion was about.  
  
Tasuki was chasing Taka, tessen out and flaming, yelling about something or another. Taka dodged the blasts of flame, eep-ing and running so fast his legs seemed to blur.  
  
With a quiet "Daaaaaaaaaa..." Chichiri dropped his head back to the ground in exhaustion. Exorcisms were so draining, especially when you were trying to magically restrain the demon within your own body while your spirit was being slowly squeezed into oblivion...  
  
Then, Chichiri frowned. Those yelps coming from Taka sounded awfully serious, and Tasuki didn't look like he was just fooling around. In fact, he looked like he truly wanted to kill the man. Chichiri carefully sat up, watching the two. Miaka was standing by, watching, an amused look on her face, while Yui-san and the friend of Miaka's brother stood a little ways off, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Keisuke asking telling Miaka to stop them, almost begging.  
  
"What's going on no da?"  
  
Nobody seemed to hear him, so he grabbed his shakujo--it was lying right beside him, thankfully--and pulled himself up. "Tasuki-kun no da!" His voice was weak, so he took a few steps out, and, the next time the two ran past, he caught the bandit's arm. Tasuki's momentum almost brought him crashing down, but he somehow managed to keep upright with the help of his shakujo. "Tasuki-kun no da! Stop no da!"  
  
Tasuki froze and looked at him, a huge, fanged grin on his face. "Chichiri! You doin' okay now?"  
  
The rest of the group finally looked over, noticed he was standing. "Chichiri!" Miaka cried, a large smile lighting up her face. "I'm so glad!"  
  
Chichiri blinked, and clutched both his staff and Tasuki's arm as the world around him turned white, and he closed his eyes to find his balance. "What...?"  
  
"Sit down," Tasuki told him, and Chichiri could feel himself being lowered to the ground, back sitting against the tree. Somehow, the roots didn't seem quite so uncomfortable anymore.  
  
When the dizziness subsided, he opened his eye again. Tasuki was crouched in front of him, hand on his shoulder. His other hand reached up and gently pried off Chichiri's mask.  
  
Chichiri felt a protest, weak as it was, bubble up. "Tasuki-kun--"  
  
The look in Tasuki's eyes warned him not to argue, and the bandit tossed the mask on the ground almost carelessly. "Y' had a demon inside ya, Chichiri. He was gonna use your Seishi powers to open a portal to the other world. Don't worry," he said, fanged grin back on his face. "Miaka 'n' Yui stopped him cold."  
  
"I figured, no da," Chichiri said, leaning his head against the trunk of the tree. "But..." he breathed heavily as the world seemed to spin again.  
  
"Don't try to talk," Tasuki hushed him. "But, hey, you wanna hear the good news? Miaka 'n' I are getting hitched!" He grinned proudly.  
  
Chichiri blinked. That would explain Taka's--  
  
Actually, no, it didn't. It didn't explain anything. Tasuki didn't--Miaka and Taka were--  
  
The confusion must've shown on his face, because Tasuki winked at him. "I'm going back to live in her world with her."  
  
Chichiri decided that this was all a dream. A bad one. He was going to wake up, and find this whole ridiculous situation to be the demon's last joke on him. Miaka and Yui and Taka and Miaka's brother and his friend were all going back to Miaka's world, and Tasuki and he were going to live here until the loneliness killed them. The end. It was all... a very bad... a bad... "A-ano... Tasuki-kun..."  
  
"Maybe you should go back to sleep, Chichiri."  
  
Sleep? Was that why his eye was closing of its own accord? Hm... but, he had to tell Tasuki that it was impossible for him to live in Miaka's world... Tamahome's--Taka's love... Miaka's love... it was too... too strong... "... no da..." he mumbled.  
  
"Is he going to be all right, Tasuki-kun?" Chichiri distantly heard Miaka ask.  
  
"I think he's just tired." That was Tasuki's voice.  
  
"Thank goodness," Miaka answered, voice full of relief.  
  
"He really shouldn't sleep outside." Yui. "Is there an inn near here?"  
  
"Yeah, there's one over a bit that way," Tasuki said, and Chichiri could feel the breeze on his face from the gesture he made.  
  
Chichiri considered letting them know he was really too tired to sleep, but then he was suddenly asleep.

* * *

  
"How do I always get stuck carrying the unconscious person?" Tetsuya grumbled, hefting the sleeping monk up a little higher.  
  
"It turned out alright for you last time," Yui said mischievously, giving him a wink and nudging him with Chichiri's shakujo.  
  
The boy blinked at her. "Well, now that you mention it, I've always been partial to monks," he said, only half-kidding.  
  
"You're such a sweetie," Keisuke teased, breaking in on the moment.  
  
Tetsuya rolled his eyes. He never knew whether to take Keisuke's flirtation seriously. "Fine, but this guy's no feather. I'm not carrying him the entire way."  
  
Yui cleared her throat and cast a meaningful glance towards Miaka and Tasuki. "What do you think about them?" she asked.  
  
"There's something strange going on," Keisuke responded, mood turning serious. "After everything Miaka and Tamahome had gone through, to change so suddenly now..."  
  
Tetsuya frowned, too. "You mean, Miaka and Taka had been getting along?"  
  
"Like turtle doves," Yui affirmed, and then lowered her voice. "Do you think it has anything to do with the demon?"  
  
The three cast a glance--well, Tetsuya did his best--at the sleeping Chichiri. "You think it's gone?"  
  
They paused in their walk, and glanced over to where Taka was walking, hands buried deep in his pockets, sending confused puppy-dog looks at the happy couple. "But, who would know?" Keisuke asked as they resumed walking.  
  
"Chichiri would know, but he's not exactly a wellspring of information at the moment," Tetsuya responded, and adjusted his grip.  
  
"Taiitsu-kun would know," Yui suggested.  
  
"But, how are we supposed to get a hold of her?"  
  
"Well, normally you'd have to come to my mountain, but I'm not there right now," a crackly old voice told them.  
  
They all jumped, and Tetsuya struggled not to drop Chichiri. The monk was a lot heavier than Yui!  
  
"Taiistu-kun!" they all yelped, jumping back.  
  
"Old bag!" Taka and Tasuki whimpered in unison.  
  
She glared at them. "Idiots!"  
  
"Taiistu-kun, is there a way to make sure the demon is gone?" Yui asked, when the moment was a little calmer.  
  
The old woman frowned. "It's gone, but it left a residual spell."  
  
"What is it?" Miaka asked, worried. "Is it dangerous?"  
  
"Not in itself," Taiitsu-kun said airily. "But all spells have the potential."  
  
"Well, what is it?" Tasuki demanded. "Do you have to be so damn mysterious all the time?"  
  
"Fool!" She snorted, and whacked him on the head. "I can't tell you any more than that!" Her look turned back to Miaka and Yui. "Because you two stopped the demon from destroying this world without any hope of gain for yourselves, Suzaku and Seriyuu will grant you each one more wish. Use it wisely." She started to fade out.  
  
"Wait!" Tasuki cried before she could leave completely. "Will Chichiri be okay?"  
  
"..." Taiitsu-kun shot her former student a concerned look. "Only time will tell... but he will wake soon." Before he could ask another question, she popped out.  
  
"What the hell kinda answer is that, you bag?!" Tasuki screamed at the empty air.  
  
"It's okay, Tasuki-chan," Miaka comforted, putting a hand on his arm. "He'll be alright."  
  
The moment was strangely surreal; Keisuke broke the awkwardness by slinging his arm around a quickly-angering Taka. "Let's get to the inn!"  
  
The others hurriedly agreed.

* * *

  
Night had fallen by the time they arrived and settled in. They had enough money on them to buy three rooms for the night; Miaka and Yui shared one, Tetsuya, Keisuke, and Taka shared another, and Tasuki and the still-sleeping Chichiri shared the third. This arrangement, reasoned Yui, left no one together who shouldn't be--namely, Miaka and Tasuki or Tasuki and Taka.  
  
She sat down on the bed, smoothing the soft blue quilt down and staring at it.  
  
What a mess.  
  
Miaka was down in the bar with Tasuki. Taka tortured himself for a while before he was persuaded to go up to his room for the night, but Keisuke and Tetsuya were down in the bar, keeping an eye on the new couple to make sure nothing _ too_ blatantly sexual was going on.  
  
"Seiryuu no miko."  
  
The deep voice startled her, and she looked around the room. The mirror, she noticed, was emitting a strange blue light, casting an eerie glow on the room. "Taiitsu-kun?" she asked.  
  
The old hag's face appeared in the mirror. "You have a choice to make, Lady Yui. You have a wish."  
  
"I know," Yui said. "Miaka will wish to be with Tasuki--that's obvious--so I guess it's up to me to wish us all back out of the book."  
  
"With the help of Suzaku, Tasuki can survive in your world," Taiitu-kun's voice rang out. "But is that the right thing?"  
  
"I don't know," Yui said, moving closer to the mirror. "She and Taka--they were so happy together. It's just so sudden... it's the residual spell you were talking about earlier, isn't it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Yui bit her lip. "I could get rid of it."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Would that be the right thing to do?" Yui turned a pleading look at Taiitsu-kun. "I mean, Tamahome gave up everything for Miaka, but Tasuki deserves some happiness, too. Will they be happy together?"  
  
"Yes." The image on the mirror changed, showing Miaka and Tasuki back in the Tokyo, smiling and holding hands. "If the spell is not lifted, Miaka will take Tasuki out of the book world. They will live a peaceful life together."  
  
"What about Taka?"  
  
The image on the mirror changed to show Tamahome, older, with a haunted look on his face. "He will remain in the book, unhappy."  
  
A firm look appeared on Yui's face. "They should be together! He gave up so much for her!"  
  
"If Miaka and Taka return to your world," Taiitsu-kun continued, "there will be trials--endless trials. As soon as one ends, another will begin. At times, their love will be the sole thing sustaining them."  
  
"Love." Yui rolled the word around in her mouth. "Miaka doesn't feel about Tasuki the way she did about Taka, does she?" It wasn't really a question.  
  
Taiitsu-kun shook her head. "Not even a spell as powerful as this one can make one feel true love for someone they do not."  
  
Yui turned away from the mirror, beginning to pace. "I want Miaka to be happy. If she goes with Taka, they have trouble. If she goes with Tasuki, though, Taka will be miserable--he doesn't deserve that. When does the sacrifice end? When is it enough? Can she just throw away all of Tamahome's sacrifices? Or should she sacrifice her future happiness for her true love?" Yui turned. "Why are you showing me all this, Taiitsu-kun? I don't get to plan Miaka's life! Only Miaka can do that."  
  
"Miaka is not in full control of herself right now," the old woman said. "Plus, it is not just her life she holds in that wish."  
  
"Yes, Taka's life, too."  
  
"Not just Taka's life."  
  
"Tasuki doesn't count! He's happy either way!"  
  
The lighting in the room shifted, and Yui looked back to the mirror to find that the picture, once again, had changed. "Miaka and Tamahome are not the only soul mates at risk." Chichiri was sitting on the bank of a river, fishing. His hat and pack lay next to him on the grass, and though the expression on his face was peaceful, it was not happy.  
  
"Chichiri loves Miaka, too?" Yui scrunched up her face.  
  
"Baka!" the woman snorted.  
  
"Tasuki and Chichiri are...?" Yui took a deep breath, blinked, and let it out all at once. "Oh..."  
  
"Soul mates divided by a universe will perish," Taiitsu-kun murmured, and Yui felt her heart ache for the old woman. Taiitsu-kun was just trying to protect her student. "The paths of soul mates are always fraught with peril, but they are always stronger together than apart."  
  
"What should I do?" Yui whispered, staring intently at the image in the mirror. It was still settled on the picture of Chichiri fishing. He was paler and thinner, and without his mask the depression on his face was easy to read. Reaching up one hand, she traced the outline of the grassy shore and the monk.  
  
"The choice must be yours," Taiitsu-kun said, and the mirror faded back to Yui's reflection. "Whatever your choice, you must decide soon. Tomorrow morning Miaka makes her wish, regardless."  
  
"Right..." Yui said, and sat back down on her bed. She was still up later when Miaka came in and fell asleep smiling.  
  
Finally, Yui stood and clapped her hands. "_Kaijin!_" she declared, summoning Seriyuu. "Remove the residual spell from Miaka and Tasuki!"  
  
There was a flash of bright blue light, and then there was nothing.

* * *

When Yui awoke the next morning, she wanted to remove her head from her shoulders and chuck it at the wall. She made a noise faintly resembling a starving duck and pulled the blankets over her head with a whimper.  
  
A few moments later, Miaka was at her side. "Are you okay?"  
  
No. No, Yui was not okay. "Head hurts," she whispered, and scrunched down a little. Such was the penalty of lending one's body to the gods; Yui wondered if there was a way to word her wish that might eliminate the great amount of pain she felt. Seriyuu might at least show a bit more compassion for his poor abused priestess.  
  
Miaka left her side and pulled her bag out from underneath her own bed. After a little rustling, she returned, holding a cup of water and a few painkillers out to her best friend. "Here." She smiled, but the cheer didn't reach her eyes.  
  
First thing's first. Yui swallowed the pills dry and sipped her water. Did Tylenol help with god-induced headaches? In any event, it was a kind offer. When she was a little more awake, she sat up the rest of the way, arranging her pillows behind her back. "What's the matter?"  
  
Miaka didn't even feign cluelessness. "I said all those horrible things to Taka," she whispered, closing her eyes. She didn't move from where she kneeled on the bed. "I threw away our love." Miaka didn't sob or sniffle, but when she opened her eyes, something looked broken. "I'm a horrible person. I don't deserve him."  
  
Yui sighed and put her hand over Miaka's. "He'll forgive you. He always does."  
  
"I don't deserve his forgiveness." Her tone was dead; it frightened Yui. "I just keep hurting him."  
  
"Sometimes he hurts you," Yui said. Miaka looked up sharply. "You hurt each other. You apologize. You move on. It's what you do."  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Neither of them knew what she was apologizing for, but Yui guided her down on the bed. Miaka put her head on her lap, letting Yui smooth her hair down comfortingly. "Did you sleep at all last night?"  
  
"Not really." Miaka stared at the ceiling. "I woke up in the middle of the night. My heart hurt. All I could think about was how much I hurt Taka."  
  
"He'll get over it." Yui thought about going back to sleep. It was very tempting to just close her eyes and drift away... but, no. The sooner they got up, the sooner they could leave. Leaving meant that the weird things--like spells and Rune Gods and Taiitsu-kun and the idea of Chiriri and Tasuki as a couple--would go away and leave her alone. Being alone with her headache and her gnawing indecision (had she done the right thing? What was the right thing? Was there a right thing? If there was, and she'd done it, how would she know?) was pretty tempting at the moment, and yet at the same time not. "We should go check on Chichiri," Yui suggested, deciding that sleep would wait until they were back in their own world. "He's probably awake by now."  
  
"It's a good thing he wasn't around for all of this madness," Miaka said with a grumble and stood. The haunted look in her eyes was faded, but not gone. "He would've hated all this soap-opera confusion."  
  
Yui's mouth twitched. When Miaka was right, she was right. "We should get dressed." Maybe she'd tell her later... in a year or so...  
  
Or maybe not.

* * *

They stood outside the door to the seishi's room, waiting for their light knock to be answered. After a moment of silence, Yui and Miaka slid the door open a crack and peeked in. Chichiri was lying in bed where Tetsuya had put him the night before, stripped of his boots and kesa; it seemed to the girls that he was too still for sleep, and Yui would have worried if she hadn't noticed his chest rise slowly, slightly, and fall again.  
  
Tasuki, lying next to him on his side, shirt off and boots on the floor next to Chichiri's, was awake. He stared at the body of his friend, just... watching. Rather expectantly, Yui noted, and glanced at Miaka. The other girl's eyes were shadowed, and she guiltily looked away from the scene.  
  
They shut the door as quietly as they'd opened it, and Miaka turned her gaze to the stairs. "I should go see Taka," she murmured. "I need to see if he will forgive me."  
  
Yui smiled through her headache, albeit a bit sadly. "Go ahead."  
  
Miaka started down the staircase, still abnormally subdued, and Yui sighed. Another day in the life of Miaka. Yui would have thought they were used to these strange episodes, but it always seemed to take everyone by surprise.  
  
Her head throbbed again, and the urge to go back to bed and hibernate for a few hundred years rushed back at her. Just as she was about to give up and return to her room, Tasuki's voice murmured something. He sounded as subdued and guilty as Miaka, so Yui glanced around the empty hall before submitting to temptation and kneeling on the floor, sliding the screen open just a crack.  
  
"...some water or somethin'? How 'bout a doctor?"  
  
"Tasuki no da," Chichiri said, and the strength in his voice settled Yui's nerves a bit. "Where are we?"  
  
"That inn we stayed at that one time. The one with the bad stew." Tasuki's voice was still nervous. "Maybe it's a different one. I wasn't really paying attention yesterday. Feeling better?"  
  
"Much better no da. I was just a bit tired--I wasn't really asleep that long, was I na no da?"  
  
"About a day. Yer sure yer alright? Do ya need a doctor or something?"  
  
"I--" Someone's stomach growled, and they both laughed. "I'm afraid I'm a bit hungry no da. But I don't need a doctor."  
  
There were rustling noises as they began to dress, and at the mention of food, Yui realized that her stomach was running on fumes as well. Chichiri's next lighthearted comment kept her near the door, though.  
  
"I had the strangest dreams no da," he said, chuckling a little. "I dreamed that you were chasing Taka around with your tessen no da. You and Miaka were in love na no da. Strange, no?"  
  
"Chichiri--" Tasuki was upset, and Yui leaned forward a little so she could see into the room.  
  
There was a tangible pause, but the smile slipped only slightly from Chichiri's face. "It wasn't a dream," Chichiri said, quietly.  
  
"I don't--"  
  
Chichiri closed his eye and smiled brightly. "I'm very happy for you. Congratulations!" Maybe it was because of her talk with Taiitsu-kun, but Yui could see something in the monk shatter, despite his cheery smile.  
  
"Chichiri--" The desperation in Tasuki was clear, but Chichiri avoided him easily.  
  
"I guess Taka and I will--"  
  
Tasuki grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around, holding him in place by his arms. "Chichiri, listen ta me!" He stared in panic as Chichiri's eye snapped open and other seishi's pain became visible on his face. "I don't know what it was--temporary insanity, a fuckin' blow to the head or what, but that's--it's not me, Chichiri."  
  
Chichiri shook his head, trying to pull away.  
  
"Chichiri, I--I'm not--like that." Tasuki was clutching Chichiri's arms, and he somehow managed to catch and hold the other man's gaze. "I--Chichiri--I don't like--I'm not--Fuck." He pulled Chichiri closer and placed a biting kiss on the other man's lips, desperately aggressive and yet heartbreakingly tender.  
  
Yui almost made a noise of surprise, covering her mouth with her hand just in time. She'd known, yes, but knowing was hardly the same as _knowing_.  
  
Chichiri didn't move, even after Tasuki pulled away and let his arms go. He stood there with his eye closed, trembling a little.  
  
Tasuki was shaking, too, unnerved and unable to look anywhere near his friend.  
  
"How long have you...?" Chichiri finally asked, a little breathlessly.  
  
"I don't know what the fuck happened yesterday," Tasuki said, "but it's never happened before and I don't understand it at all now. Women have never..." he made an odd gesture that fell just short of obscene, "for me. And I wanted to kiss you since... a long time. And. Chichiri, we've been doing this fucking dance so long, and I just can't--"  
  
Chichiri stepped in and caught Tasuki's mouth mid-word, swallowing the sound in a kiss so passionate that Yui felt for a moment that he was a different person. He cupped Tasuki's face, smoothing his hands over the seishi's jaw and cheek before sliding them over to Tasuki's hair. At the first tentative stroke of his hair, Tasuki broke free of his stupor and brought his arms up around Chichiri, drawing him closer as the kiss deepened and grew more intense.  
  
Yui looked away, blushing. Yes, knowing and _knowing_...  
  
"I never knew you were into voyeurism!" Keisuke's delighted voice whispered in her ear.  
  
Yui jumped and blushed harder, turning to glare at him. "It--it's not what it looks like!" she whispered back frantically.  
  
He leaned forward over her to look at the two seishi. "So they're just giving each other CPR?"  
  
"That's not what I meant!" she said hotly. "I meant--oh, forget it!" When Keisuke got into this mood he was absolutely impossible, as Tetsuya often bemoaned.  
  
Keisuke's mischievous look faded and he stood gracefully, holding one hand out to Yui. "You did the right thing," he told her as he helped her up.  
  
She slid the door shut and blushed, glaring at him again.  
  
"That's not what I meant!" he said, waving his hands and turning a little red himself. "I meant--the wish."  
  
Her lips tightened and she looked away. She didn't know how he knew, but... "I don't know."  
  
They started downstairs towards the dining room. "None of them would have truly been happy any other way."  
  
Yui remembered the desperate look on Chichiri's face, and the answering hunger on Tasuki's, and the desolation on Taka's yesterday. Life wasn't going to be easy for any of them... but it was too late now for regrets.  


* * *

  
  
End Note: When I was titling this, I have to admit, all I could think of were silly titles... "A Miko's Dilemia", "Is it Love?", and my personal favorite "Suzaku Says" are only hints at the horrible things I came up with. Isn't this one the best of the lot? ^_^  
  
For those who don't know/have forgotten:  
  
_Shakujo_: Chichiri's staff.  
_Kesa_: The cloak-type thing he wears.  


* * *

Here she is, the wri-iter...

Back to the Scribs.


End file.
